LA Tenorio is Ginebra's quiet superstar

LA Tenorio is Ginebra's quiet superstar


Prior to the start of the PBA Philippine Cup, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings were tabbed as early favorites. After an up-and-down season riddled with injuries to key players, the Kings were finally healthy and more importantly, they filed the gaping hole in their lineup.
 
They responded to the lofty expectations with an 86-69 drubbing of the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the opening of the new conference. After the game, some members of the media converged on Greg Slaughter, the rookie center who had 10 points and 13 rebounds. Two smaller groups talked to Japeth Aguilar who topscored for Ginebra and Dylan Ababou who returned from a long layoff to score 16 points in just 17 minutes.
 
LA Tenorio didn’t get as much attention. “Sawa na ata sila sa akin (Maybe they’re already tired of me),” Tenorio japed. He wasn’t the story of the game but he was the one who made everything work and for Tenorio, this was all that matters. Ginebra over Best Player of the Game awards. Ginebra over personal accolades. Ginebra over anything else.
 
He proved this when he failed to win the PBA’s Most Valuable Player award last season. Tenorio watched and clapped as Arwind Santos raised the trophy. He went a step further by defending Santos from all the bashers the award came with.
 
“Deserving naman si Arwind (Arwind deserves to win),” Tenorio would tell anyone who’d hear it. Asked if he felt bad about not winning, his simple answer is that it was never his goal.
 
“Kung mararating ko man iyun, e di masaya (If I ever get to that point, I’ll be happy),” Tenorio said. “Pero hindi talaga yan ang goal ko e (But that’s not my goal).”
 
Led by Tenorio, the Kings went on a dream run in last season’s Commissioner’s Cup. They powered through the injury of Mark Caguioa to reach the Finals. They were swept by Alaska but his individual brilliance made Tenorio the talk of the town.
 
"Naka-isang Finals appearance lang ako last season pero naging MVP contender na ako. Kung matulungan ko yung Ginebra na makapasok ng tatlong beses sa Finals o manalo ng championship, syempre mas malakas yung possibility ko na makuha yun (I only had one Finals appearance last season but I was already considered an MVP contender. If I lead Ginebra to three Finals appearances or championships, the possibility of winning the MVP award will be bigger),” Tenorio explained. “Ang goal ko talaga yung championship kasi yung individual awards kasunod lang palagi nun (My goal is just to win championships because individual awards only come after that).”
 
Tenorio is Ginebra’s general, the GINeral as his fans would say. Like a true general, Tenorio is tasked to run everything for his team. He instructs and inspires. He makes his teammates play better but he takes control when the need comes.
 
The point guard scored 17 points and dished out 10 assists in their win but he walked out to little fanfare. A few shrieks of his name were heard as he walked out of the arena, an explosion cheers thundered came when Mark Caguioa did the same.

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But again, like how he didn’t mind Santos winning the MVP, Tenorio also does not mind when Caguioa gets all the cheers.
 
"Si Mark sobrang daming fans at sobrang mahal ng mga tao. Di na mababago yan (Mark has a lot of fans because he is loved. That will never change),” Tenorio explained. “I’d love to be the face of Ginebra someday, but now it’s still Mark Caguioa.”
 
Tenorio doesn’t mind playing alongside Caguioa. Unlike other two-superstar setups that usually don’t work in the PBA, the two have a tremendous working relationship with each other.
 
“Nakuha ko na yung loob niya, nakuha niya na rin yung loob ko,” Tenorio explained.
 
They communicate constantly with each other and this allows them to function without stepping on each other’s toes. This allows them to just concentrate on winning without thinking of outperforming the other.
 
“Alam na niya na mahihirapan siya sa depensa ng San Mig kasi may game plan si coach Tim Cone para kay Mark (He knew that he’ll have a hard time against San Mig’s defense because Tim Cone has a game plan for him), Tenorio shared. “Pag nahihirapan siya sinasabihan lang niya ako na diskartehan ko na lang (When he’s having a tough time, he just tells me to do my own thing).”
 
With their win against the Mixers, the last champions of the past season, the expectations soared higher for the Kings. Tenorio takes it upon himself to remind his teammates that they cannot be complacent. “Sinasabi ko sa kanila na mahina lang kami (I tell them that we are not strong),” he said.  “Kailangan yung mindset namin palaging underdog, kailangan palagi kaming gutom (We need to have the underdog mindset, we need to stay hungry).”
 
For Tenorio, being a general is not about getting medals of valor or other accolades. It’s not about winning battles. It’s not even about being loved. Being a general, being the GINeral, is about leading his team to a title, it’s about winning wars, about getting the job done. Tenorio stepped into this role with a willing heart and an able body. He also accepts that anything less than a title will be failure on his part.
 
The first battle was one against San Mig Coffee and the GINeral’s first message was to stay hungry.
 
“Ang daming teams na malakas sa papel pero wala naman yan sa papel e. Ang daming teams sa dapat mananalo pero di naman nanalo (There have been a lot of teams that were good on paper but it’s never about being good on paper. There are a lot of teams that should have won but didn’t),” Tenorio said. “Kailangan isipin lagi na dehado kami kasi dun lumalabas yung bangis at yung never say die ng Ginebra (We need to think we’re always at a disadvantage because that’s when the ferocity and the never-say-die attitude comes out for Ginebra).”

Source: Yahoo.sports.ph